Saturday, August 27, 2016

For
a drop in dinner at Dr Dan's, he prepared a wonderful meal of grilled
T-bone steaks with grilled vegetables and an extraordinary selection of
top ranked super second Bordeaux and Napa blends. The
impressive line-up of wines included several of my favorite producers
including two of our designated signature wines for our son, Ryan - Château Figeac and Ducru Beaucaillou. We collected and offered each of these wines in large format from his birth year vintage at his wedding.

Other favorite labels that Dan pulled from his cellar were Lewis Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Beaulieu Vineyards Tapesty, and Dominus Estate Napa Red Blend. What a treat to sample such a lineup!

Prior to dinner Dan offered a selection of artisan cheese and fresh fruit.

He then prepared and served a grilled scampi shrimp appetizer dish (shown left).

With the entree course Dan also served sweet corn on the cob. The portabello mushrooms were an ideal complement to the red wines.

We started with Château Figeac, a merlot based right bank Bordeaux Blend, followed by the Ducru
and then the Dominus, a Bordeaux producer's left bank Bordeaux style red
blend from Napa.

Following the Dominus we pivoted to two other Napa Valley Cabernets - Lewis Cellars Reserve, and finishing with the BV Tapestry Reserve red blend.

Château Figeac St Emilion Bordeaux 2010

We served this wine from a double magnum of this producer at son Ryan's
wedding from the 1982 vintage. We hold and vertical collection of this
label as well as it being part of a horizontal selection of Bordeaux
from his birth year vintage.

True
to the style of the Merlot based blend, this was an appropriate opening
wine, a bit softer and more approachable easier drinking than the
Cabernet predominant blends.

The blend of this right bank Bordeaux is 35% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet
Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.

Like the Figeac above, we served this wine from a double magnum of this producer at son Ryan's wedding from the 1982 vintage. We hold and vertical collection of this label as well as it being part of a horizontal selection of Bordeaux from his birth year vintage. I consider these two wines to be his signature wines, so it was a special treat to taste them side by side.

As I've written before in these pages, this ultr-premium label from this legendary Bordeaux producer Christian Mouiex of Chateau Petrus, is noted for its longevity aging potential. I acquired a case of the 1986 vintage on release back at the time. I then tasted a bottle every couple of years to see how it was aging. Not until about 2000 did the wine open up to express itself and reveal its true character and potential. "So this is what Dominus is supposed to taste like", I exclaimed. Of course by that time, we only had about two bottles left!

The early vintages of this label featured a pen sketch and water color painting of Christian. It was a classic art label collection until they ceased the practice in about 1991. I collected the Dominus Estate Portrait Art Wine Label Series of these vintages up to that time and feature the labels' art in my on-line art label library collection.

One of absolute favorite cabernets. Inky purple and garnet colors, medium full bodied, smooth polished and nicely balanced with concentrated core of black berry and black raspberry fruits accented by tones of sweet oak, mocha and vanilla with hints of black olives and anise turning to smooth fine tannins on the long finish.

Another perennial favorite cab that delivers high QPR in most vintages, we hold more than a dozen vintages of this label in the cellar. Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, nicely balanced, subdued black berry and black cherry fruits with tones of tar, herbs and hints of earthy and anise turning to a moderate tannin finish.

After dinner featured a broad selection of premium Donaldson's Chocolates that we brought from Indiana, and French Valrhona chocolates that Dan and Linda acquired in Valrhona France on their Rhone River Cruise from Avignon up to Lyon.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Visiting Eric and Cathy for the night, Eric served this unique proprietary big red blend label from Sonoma County. Fan's of the wildly popular Prisoner red blend should love this big bold fruit forward easy drinking wine that is offered at half the price for a great high QPR label if you can find it.

This is a blend of Zinfandel,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Malbec, produced by Cannonball Wine
Company, a collaboration of Yoav Gilat, Dennis Hill, and graphic designer Michael
Schwab. The fruit is said to be sourced from some of Sonoma County's most prestigious growers.

This
multi-varietal red blend represents the bold style and characteristics of each of the varietals in the blend - rich concentrated sweet Zinfandel, structured Cabernet Sauvignon,
tone and notes of structure, color and bold flavors of Petite Sirah and Malbec. It all comes together in a nicely crafted blend that is harmonious and balanced, not the awkward cacaphony of flavors that often exists in lower price multi-variety red blends. This big expressive easy drinking sipper begs for BBQ, rich pasta, pizza or hearty bold cheeses.

Dark inky garnet purple colored, full bodied, rich concentrated chewy brambly blackberry and black raspberry fruits accented by a layer of mocha dark chocolate with tones of pepper and spices and a hint of cedar on a long tongue coated full finish.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

For a team dinner in Springfield we dined at Indigo Restaurant, what I believe is perhaps the best dining in the area. Knowing I was probably going to order a steak and longing for an appropriate Bordeaux wine, I took BYOB this recent vintage Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux Bordeaux Grand Cru Classe. If I tasted this at the UGCB vintage release tastings I didn't remember so I was eager to try it.

I ordered the New York strip steak Pittsburg style and they delivered as specified. The wine was a perfect complement to the dinner. Considering our group of nine, service was attentive, professional, timely and prompt without being obtrusive or doting. Dinner was up to fine dining standards in all respects.

Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux 2012

This was a pleasant approachable drinking Bordeaux from a vintage that has been panned in the ratings and the press. Garnet colored, medium bodied, very Margaux like in the dark and red berry fruit aromas accented by bright floral.

Nicely structured and balanced with expressive black cherry and plum fruits with bright lively acidity with hints of cedar and subtle cassis graphite turning to soft moderate tannins on the finish. This represents decent value for near term drinking or aging.

Following a recent visit to meet Jared Gelband
in his role as the new Wine Director of the extraordinary cellar that
supports Italian Village's three restaurants, we returned with our wine
group for a dinner featuring a selection of classic wines.

Readers of this column know I have a very sparse collection of Italian wines in our cellar but I pulled and brought from home BYOB a vintage Sangiovese Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva from 1997. Jared matched that from his extensive winelist with a 2007 for a mini-horizontal comparison tasting.

Dan and Ernie then dipped into the wine list to select a Château Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Léognan Bordeaux 1996 that we know well, in a large format magnum. Clearly the highlight of the evening was a bottle of ultra-premium Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Masseto Toscana IGT Merlot 2001.

We closed the evening with an Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella 2006 to complement the dessert course.

Prior
to dinner we were served an antipasta course. Our dinner selections
included seared prime Rib-eye steak with asparagus and red potatoes,
baby New Zealand rack of Lamb, and Risotto with jumbo Lump Crab with
charred white sweet corn and pesto.

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Masseto Toscana IGT Merlot 2001

A
classic label from this legendary producer, a uncustomary rare Bordeaux
single varietal Merlot from Northern Italy. This is one of the most
sophisticated and expressive Merlot's I've ever had and its hard to
believe it is from Italy.

Dark garnet colored, medium to
full bodied, this was focused, polished, a well-balanced symphony of
plush concentrated black and red berry fruit flavors accented by subtle
tones of mocha and truffle and hints of expresso and cassis turning to a
elegant mouth gripping but silky smooth layer of acid and tannins.

An
interesting exposition of terroir in this vintage comparison of this
ten and twenty year old. The common terroir profile and character were
apparent with vintage specificities being the distinguishable
differences between these two wines.

The younger '07 was
brighter and more expressive than the older '97. It was also less
balanced and polished and a bit bolder but more obtuse. Both exhibited
concentrated bright black and red berry fruits with the '97 coming
across as more layered in earthy leather, tobacco leaf and tones of
creosote and cassis. Initially a bit closed it opened up quite a bit
over the next 2
hours. While the '07 was brighter and more forward with its more lively
acidity, the older vintage came across as slightly more subdued,
polished, with greater balance and complexity, turning to a long
polished finish.
Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Sangiovese 1997
RM 91 points.https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=35653

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

For our special anniversary dinner, we took BYOB a favorite festive bottle of Fantesca Napa Cabernet. We have numerous fond memories of our visits to the Fantesca Chateau and Vineyards up on the middle slopes of Spring Mountain above St Helena. We've enjoyed the hospitality of proprietors Duane and Susan Hoff and hosted Duane at our home during his one of his early marketing trips to Chicago.

Amazing how time flies ... gets better every day ...

We dined early at Chez Joël Bistro Francais, a favorite bistro in the Little Italy district on Taylor Street in Chicago, near the city campus of UIUC.

Even though the weather was threatening we chose to dine outside in their courtyard next to the soothing sounds of the trickling fountain, one of our favorite dining spots.

Despite warnings from the staff, we continued to dine under the umbrella during a sudden cloudburst and torrent of rain that only lasted a view minutes, while they scurried to clear the rest of the tables.

As mentioned often in these pages, our visits to the spectacular Spring Mountain Estate of
Duane and Susan Hoff have been highlights of our Napa wine excursions in
2007 and 2009. We hosted Duane at our home
on one of his first release tours when he was traveling the country
building the Fantesca brand. Their classic packaging with their etched
glass oversize bottles provide a festive bottle for such a gala dinner.

I can be at peace at working down our collection of Fantesca - I just picked up several bottles of newer vintages at the auction recently so I'll have a bottle to replace this one open slot in our cellar rack.

Fantesca Spring Mtn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The Fantesca was wonderful, a perfect selection for our intimate occasion, and a perfect complement to the Pate plate and then my New York Strip Steak with roquefort, as well as Linda's Salmon and asparagus entree.

Interestingly as I write this I pulled and compared my tasting notes to an earlier review of this wine when I wrote' "Over a
eleven hundred different wines in the cellar and I chose this one for
our intimate anniversary dinner ...."

Sunday, August 14, 2016

For a grilled New York strip steak dinner at Bill and Beth's, Bill served this '98 vintage classic, and I brought along a '89 for comparison and complementary tasting. This may be my last bottle of a case I bought back upon release of this label.Fittingly, this '89 served as a further tribute to B & B's son Matt as a birth year vintage, commemorating his recent wedding when Bill served classic birth year wines.This Pichon Lalande duo presented amazing consistency in character and tasting profile between two diverse vintages and presented all the classic flavors reminding me why it is one of my favorites of all Bordeaux. Dark garnet colored, starting to show a slight brownish rust hue due to aging, medium full bodied, complex yet perfectly balanced, each exhibited classic nose of a fine cigar, earth, floral, tones of cassis, graphite and hint of menthol and smoky oak. The 98 was a bit more bright and vibrant in its expression of the fruit, while the 89 was a bit more subdued and slightly closed. Both finished with smooth graceful silky lingering tannins.RM 93 points.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Like earlier tastings, I pulled this full throttle Columbia Valley Shiraz to accompany bbq rib dinner. I've raved about this wine several times in this blog, talking about the high QPR (quality price ratio) that can occasionally be found in negociant private label wines. Of course the challenge is that often they are 'one hit wonders' since there is no guarantee of follow up vintages of the particular label.

I've stated that this may be one of our
favorite drinking wines in our cellar right now, certainly at this price
point!

This is still holding its own at seven years of age.

Dark inky garnet colored, medium to full bodied, this full throttle
Syrah reveals layers of blackberry and black currants fruits with tones
of sweet vanilla, caramel and spice with hints of black pepper on a
lingering smooth tannin finish.

As usual, we saved a couple glasses to try later and this was even better the next day. It was awesome with the spectacular Sunday Brunch Linda prepared - French Strawberry Crepes, grilled filet steak with blue cheese and fresh avocado, and fresh Peach puree fizz (below), enjoyed on the deck.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

For dinner on the patio at Angelis Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria on a perfect summer evening, we took this big bold Aussie Shiraz, BYOB.

I discovered and tasted this wine with Wine Manager Bill and the Aussie wine buyer at the wine desk at Binny's in Glen Ellyn back upon release. I liked it so much I bought their entire allocation which was only a couple six packs. Tonight I broke open that last remaining case from that purchase. At a dozen years of age, this is aging gracefully, showing no signs of diminution whatsoever.

Dark inky purple color, full bodied, full aromas and flavors of black fruits, a hint of raspberry and
blueberry, accented by tones of graphite & mineral on a smooth polished moderate tannin
finish.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Pulled this from the cellar to enjoy with grilled steak and baked potato and sweet corn dinner - a perfect complement.

This is the second label of the classic super premium Shrader brand/collection. This is from the Amber Knolls Vineyard up in Lake County, over the hill from Howell Mountain to the northeast from Napa Valley, not to be confused with the Oak Knolls district in southwest Napa.